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International Committee

WASHINGTON, DC—An International Peoples Tribunal (IPT) looking into the human rights abuses in the Philippines under the administration of Benigno Simeon Aquino III is set to take place in Washington, DC on July 16-18. Former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and prominent human rights attorney Azadeh Shahshahani will be amongst the distinguished panel of jurors who will hear live testimonies of witnesses from the Philippines. Conveners of the tribunal include the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, the National Lawyers Guild, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, and Ibon International.

The NLG International Committee’s Palestine Subcommittee has submitted a report to the ICC prosecutor with facts showing that Israeli air and ground attacks on Palestinian territory preceded Hamas and non-Hamas rocket fire, and thus could not have been in self-defense; in fact, these attacks actually sparked a vast increase in rocket fire.

Since Jan. 16, when Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine, Israel has forced the resignation of the head of the United Nations inquiry into Operation Protective Edge and called on members of the tribunal to cut funding to the court. “So long as any institution for the prosecution of war crimes exists, the Israeli state knows that under any system of justice it’s their leaders and officials that are going to be facing prosecution for their ongoing and systematic war crimes against the Palestinian people,” said Charlotte Kates, the coordinator for the National Lawyers Guild International Committee.

The National Lawyers Guild strongly condemns Israel's illegal expulsion of Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member Khalida Jarrar from Ramallah to Jericho, two cities within the occupied West Bank. NLG demands that Israel's West Bank military governor rescind the outrageous order.

Today, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and nine other human rights organizations sent a letter to President Obama and White House officials asking them to demand Israel cease the practice of abuse and unlawful detention of Palestinians and conduct a full investigation into the severe beating and unlawful detention by Israeli police of U.S.-born, 15-year-old Tariq Abu Khdeir.

On August 4, 2014, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and nine other human rights organizations sent the following letter to President Obama and other White House officials calling for a full, independent investigation into the beating and unlawful detention of 15-year-old Palestinian-American Tariq Abu Khdeir by Israeli police. Read the full press statement about the letter here.